The art of gift giving

by June

If you ever make enough money to consider buying gifts for friends and families on a big holiday, say Christmas in the US, there is a long way to go before you become really good at it. It takes thoughts as well as money. 

Say money is not the concern; you still need to be thoughtful so that you don't burden your friends with expensive gifts. I don't like to receive expensive gifts that I consider a luxury or a white elephant, because I can’t afford to spend “equal amount” to match such a gift I receive. Luckily, I don’t have many friends who shower me with white elephants.

Sometimes, you receive a gift in a nice box. You want to “recycle” the box. I do, since it’s good for the Mother Earth.There is a unspoken rule, however, which is do not recycle a box of a brand name. Why? The person who receives the box might recognize the brand and think:“OMG, am I getting a Rolex watch?” I hope I have made the point clear by using this extreme example. For the record, no one has given me a gift in a Rolex watch box. 

Then, there are gift cards. I have used them as “Plan B.” In fact, I had to buy some gift cards this year, as each year before this, because I was running out of time. My son commented on gift cards: “It’s a lazy way.” He is right; unfortunately, he will buy gift cards someday, if not next year. 

So, how should one buy gifts for others? It’s like writing a research paper; try to think from the viewpoint of the readers, in this case the person who is at the receiving end. I know it’s hard, but like writing, you will never be good at writing if you don’t keep on trying it; the same is true for gift giving, except that no one will edit it for you.